Bewitched was a smash hit on television because it was something different. Tv wasn't all that old yet, and viewers had not seen anything like it. I watched it in reruns as a child as well. Seen today, it is still somewhat entertaining but it does show its age in several ways.
First, much of the scripting got repetitive. Whenever one of Darrin's ad agency clients saw something really strange, Darrin and Samantha were always able to convince the client it was all a publicity stunt---and the client always loved it without fail. Really??? Also, magically bringing historical figures or fairy tale characters to the present may have been funny the first two or three times it was done, but around the tenth time, it started getting a little old.
But the thing that dates Bewitched the most is the character of Darrin himself, a true product of the 60s. Darrin is the moral backbone of the show, a man of deep integrity who believes that if you want something, you gotta work for it; you shouldn't be able to just conjure it up. A good message to be sure, but......having Darrin come home from work and start yelling at his wife may have been funny in the 60s, but it rings rather hollow now. Plus....
.....Samantha's family for the most part are depicted as truly evil and dangerous, surprisingly so for a comedy (on one episode, Samantha's father Maurice actually tries to murder Darrin by turning him into a newspaper and throwing him into a fireplace). Yet on virtually every episode, Darrin insults and sasses them to their faces---this is supposed to make Darrin seem courageous; he is standing up to evil regardless of the consequences, even when the targets of his insults retaliate against him and hurt him. Darrin was symbolic of the 60s young idealists, who were standing up to The Man. But seen today, it makes him look very foolish, and it seems by today's standards that he brings a lot of his woes on himself. Wouldn't he have been smarter to at least try and get along with this bunch, for his wife's sake if nothing else? But this was not the ideals of the 60s.
In all, Bewitched holds up as well as it does on the basis of Samantha herself, as portrayed by Elizabeth Montgomery. Samantha had it all---she was beautiful, sexy, sweet, refined, and talented. She was every young man's dream girl. I think the show would not be remembered nearly as fondly if someone less charismatic than Elizabeth Montgomery had played the role. Nearly 60 years later, she carries the show almost single-handedly. It is too bad Bewitched ended up defining her entire career.
First, much of the scripting got repetitive. Whenever one of Darrin's ad agency clients saw something really strange, Darrin and Samantha were always able to convince the client it was all a publicity stunt---and the client always loved it without fail. Really??? Also, magically bringing historical figures or fairy tale characters to the present may have been funny the first two or three times it was done, but around the tenth time, it started getting a little old.
But the thing that dates Bewitched the most is the character of Darrin himself, a true product of the 60s. Darrin is the moral backbone of the show, a man of deep integrity who believes that if you want something, you gotta work for it; you shouldn't be able to just conjure it up. A good message to be sure, but......having Darrin come home from work and start yelling at his wife may have been funny in the 60s, but it rings rather hollow now. Plus....
.....Samantha's family for the most part are depicted as truly evil and dangerous, surprisingly so for a comedy (on one episode, Samantha's father Maurice actually tries to murder Darrin by turning him into a newspaper and throwing him into a fireplace). Yet on virtually every episode, Darrin insults and sasses them to their faces---this is supposed to make Darrin seem courageous; he is standing up to evil regardless of the consequences, even when the targets of his insults retaliate against him and hurt him. Darrin was symbolic of the 60s young idealists, who were standing up to The Man. But seen today, it makes him look very foolish, and it seems by today's standards that he brings a lot of his woes on himself. Wouldn't he have been smarter to at least try and get along with this bunch, for his wife's sake if nothing else? But this was not the ideals of the 60s.
In all, Bewitched holds up as well as it does on the basis of Samantha herself, as portrayed by Elizabeth Montgomery. Samantha had it all---she was beautiful, sexy, sweet, refined, and talented. She was every young man's dream girl. I think the show would not be remembered nearly as fondly if someone less charismatic than Elizabeth Montgomery had played the role. Nearly 60 years later, she carries the show almost single-handedly. It is too bad Bewitched ended up defining her entire career.